Daylight Saving, Issue 5: Part 2.1

Page 107

Panel 1: We move to a shot of Brie a short time after their phone call completes, looking over the same notes from Panel 5 of the previous page. You can see the phone steadily ringing a few inches away at the same time.

Caption

(Kym)

"Cool, cool...we'll talk then, maybe sooner depending on how bad the oncoming media storm this interview will be on us."

Caption

(Brie)

"At first, I thought it was a joke on her part. But it didn’t take long before I saw it as...kind of an omen!"

Panel 2: A small series of snapshots highlighting the different top talk shows and news programs of the day (Letterman, Jon Stewart, etc.)

Caption

(Cont., Brie)

"There were a half dozen interviews, done near back-to-back, over the course of weeks. In nearly each one, the interviewer either talked about my soft voice or made “cross dressing jokes” or dipped into some other minor minutiae, like asking if Donald Trump ever runs for President." 

Panel 3: We move to a snapshot of Mx. Benoit at the interview in question, responding with a serious look that hides an inner sense of dread and fear in their eyes as they're speaking.

Caption

(Cont., Brie)

"I tried my best every time they asked to say how dangerous and idiotic that move that would be- to the world. But they just laughed and joked how it’ll never happen or whatever. It takes a lot out of me not to go too far down the dark hole of doubt, at least in that mark..."

Panel 4: As in Panel 2, we see a series of op-ed headlines that stemmed from that particular moment as well as the press tour as a whole. The vast majority of them are negative, lying from partly negative to vitriolically negative, with a spare few (like The Nation, for example) sympathetically positive.

Caption

(Cont., Brie)

"Especially as i hear those who leaned  toward the conservative side of the spectrum picked apart my ideas and called me naive or a dangerous ideologue or a bit of both. Not to mention the backwards, barely humans who populated the primitive internet Comment boards who vomited out slurs about my gender identity or the way I put my hair up or the makeup I use.

Caption

(Cont., Brie)

“I fear I may have created the concept of trolls years before they normally should...sorry im advance to the women, POC and other non-'normal' people I might have screwed if so."

Caption

(Cont., Brie)

"Anyway, there were a few bright spots, chief among them the delightful & intriguing interview with the lovely Mr. Stewart. It created a tidal wave of something that was previously a foreign concept for me all these months here..."

Panel 5: Back at the communal mailbox at their mailbox, we see the young person looking at a stack of letters as tall as their box itself. You can see Kayla in the upper right corner of the background, looking on in a fancy dress.

Caption

124 Days Till Slingshot

BRIE

(excitedly)

FAN MAIL!

Page 108

Panel 1: Action shot of the couple walking away from the mailboxes a few moments later, continuing on in the conversation; Mx. Benoit sifts through the letters as they speak.

KAYLA

(slight chuckle)

Never would've pegged you as someone who gets excited over fan mail.

BRIE

(defensive explanatory)

When you spend months getting death threats, it’s a nice change of pace. Also, the people who write them are pretty delightful.

Panel 2: Slight close-up on Brie a beat later as they continue on their larger point; a sense of pride and hope in their eyes as they're speaking.

BRIE

(Cont.)

Sure, a good chunk of them were only written for superficial reasons, but an equally sized good chunk say they were inspired by the interview and want to know how they can do the good work where they live. 

Panel 3: Back to Ms. Clarkson who partly understands the sentiment, though has a tiny counterpoint that pops in her head.

KAYLA

What makes you think these people aren’t just saying they will?

Panel 4: We move back to the young person; the setting and layout similar to Panel 2. There's a pondering honesty in their eyes as they're speaking.

BRIE

Well, some of them actually highlight the type of actions they've started locally as a result of the interview and the stuff we did covertly. The rest of it…good ol’ fashioned hope, I guess.

Panel 5: A short time later, we see Mx. Benoit in their apartment ready to drop off the mail quickly.

Caption

(Cont., Brie)

"Why don't you go get a cab while I drop this on the end table? It won't be too long."

Caption

(Kayla)

"Alright, hon..."

Panel 6: Just as they place the stack of letters on an end table near the door, one catches their proverbial eye...

Panel 7:...it's from Falis Noor back in Brighton.